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Global Fund Observer

The Global Fund Observer is the leading independent voice providing insight, analysis and opinion about the Global Fund.

Subscribe to our free, twice-monthly newsletter for authoritative and credible explanations about the policies, practices and procedures at the Secretariat, insider information about Global Fund Board meetings, analysis on reports from the Office of the Inspector General, and real stories capturing the impact and role of the Global Fund at the country level,

GFO Current Issue

In his first interview with the Global Fund Observer, and in the runup to the Sixth Replenishment, Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands spoke about a fully-funded Fund’s crucial role in accelerating the delivery of SDG 3, the Fund's new framework agreement with WHO, domestic financing, absorptive capacity, and more.

The Global Fund Board has approved another $229.4 million in funding for 16 country grants. The grants emanated from funding requests submitted by nine countries. The Board also approved $24.0 million for three multi-country grants. Interventions worth $127.4 million were added to the Unfunded Quality Demand Register. Of the $229.4 million for country grants, Nigeria led the way with three grants valued at $71.2 million.

The Board approved $36.4 million for the Middle East Response 2, a multi-country grant that is six-country initiative aimed at HIV, TB, and malaria services for refugees and people in conflict areas in and around Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen. This funding is a continuation of a prior grant.

The Executive Secretary of Mozambique’s Country Coordinating Mechanism was found to have embezzled $22,593 from Global Fund grant monies and was responsible for ‘non-compliant expenditures’ of $26,020 overall, including payments not supported by appropriate documentation. The OIG released a report on its investigation into the misappropriation of funds on 13 November 2018. The Secretariat is seeking the recovery of $24,587, which takes into account one reimbursement already made by the Executive Secretary.

The Technical Review Panel recently released a report on RSSH investments in the 2017–2019 allocation period. Although there has been progress, the TRP found, a greater focus on resilient and sustainable systems for health will be required in the 2020–2022 allocation period if the Global Fund is to achieve its RSSH-related strategic objectives. The TRP analyzed 50 funding requests from Windows 1–5. This overview is one of three GFO articles on the report; the other two, on integrated health systems and human resources for health, will be published in a future edition of the GFO.

An audit by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) shows that Kenya has made significant progress against HIV, TB and malaria. This is partly due to the country’s ability to successfully procure and distribute Global Fund-supported health products. The OIG, however, found issues in the quality of services, measurement of grant performance and grant implementation in the context of devolution of health services from the central government to 47 county governments following constitutional changes in 2010.

Kenya, Uganda and Guinea are three African countries at different levels of economic development, and with different epidemiology for the HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The application of co-financing within their programming for the three diseases differs largely by country. It is important that the Secretariat harmonizes the application of the policy across countries despite the need for customization.

A new report from ICASO published on January 8, 2019, highlights improvements in Malawi’s Global Fund program during the 2017-2019 funding cycle. The authors summarize the report’s findings for the GFO. The total funding requested for key and vulnerable populations rose dramatically, and service packages for these groups were defined in greater detail. According to the report, a broad and systematic community engagement process contributed to these positive changes. However, community monitoring initiatives are direly needed to ensure greater accountability during grant implementation.

On January 11, 2019, the Global Fund Secretariat and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Fund’s $14-billion target for its next three-year funding cycle, at a high-level meeting in Paris. The announcement comes ahead of the preparatory meeting for the Replenishment to be hosted by the Indian government in New Delhi on February 8, 2019.

Aidspan has launched a mobile app for its English and French newsletters, the Global Fund Observer and the Observateur du Fonds Mondial, now accessible for both iOS and Android users. The app is available free of charge in the Google Play and Apple stores.